Meg Ryan to make feature directorial debut: Should she star in it as well?

Meg Ryan will step behind the camera with the dramedy Into the Beautiful, her rep confirms to EW. As Variety reports, the feature is “being developed as a contemporary Big Chill with longtime friends reconnecting,” and as of now, there are no plans for Ryan to act in the film as well. But should she?

On one hand, this is material Ryan obviously connects strongly to, and if a role is right for her, it could remind audiences why they used to love seeing her onscreen. I think of something like Helen Hunt’s 2008 feature directorial debut, Then She Found Me, costarring Colin Firth, which was the most interesting work she’d done in the decade since As Good As It Gets. But on the other hand, perhaps audiences would be more inclined to embrace Ryan as an actress again after she’s wowed them with a poignant film from the director’s chair. Get the goodwill flowing once more. What do you think?

It’s a tough call, especially without knowing the roles in play. While you’re debating, perhaps we can at least agree that it’s nice to have another female star make that leap to feature director, and that it would be even nicer to have someone amass a string of credits. In the decade between the release of Little Man Tate and The Beaver, Jodie Foster only directed one film, Home for the Holidays. Diane Keaton hasn’t directed a film since 2000’s Hanging Up, which was five years after her feature debut Unsung Heroes. It’s been 15 years since Barbra Streisand’s The Mirror Has Two Faces, and 10 years since the more prolific Penny Marshall’s Riding in Cars with Boys. (Though Marshall has recently directed episodes of Showtime’s United States of Tara.) Let’s not wait that long, Drew Barrymore (2009’s Whip It), Cheryl Hines (2009’s Serious Moonlight), and Vera Farmiga (2011’s Higher Ground). We’re looking forward to Take This Waltz, Sarah Polley (2007’s Away From Her).

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